The success of the third film has prompted the studion to move ahead with the rumored fourth installment.
Comingsoon.net reports that with the success of SAW III over the weekend ($34.3 million) Lionsgate is giving the greenlight to begin work on a fourth installment for a Halloween 2007 release.
Since the low-budget SAW debuted with $18.3 million over the same weekend two years ago, Lionsgate has turned the franchise into an annual ritual with quickly produced sequels each Halloween.
The movies follow the diabolical schemes of psycho killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), who stages elaborate, bloody games to test the moral fiber of his victims. Lionsgate plans to have SAW IV in theaters over Halloween weekend next year.